Plates 8 and 9. 
Hooded water bottles such as these (Plate 8, Catalog No. 
8X319, provenience unknown; Plate 9, Catalog No. 8X73, 
Mississippi Co., Mo.) depicting elderly, humpbacked women, 
have been found most frequently as burial offerings in the 
region near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 
Archaeological investigations indicate that they were made 
by Indians of the Middle Mississippi culture some time after 
A.D. 1000. It may be suggested that such vessels represent 
deities, legendary figures or even female humpbacks with 
whom the potters were acquainted. However, since none 
of the makers survived to reveal their meaning, such expla- 
nations are only conjecture. Their true significance remains 
unknown. 
Plate 9. 
